A New York City-based program is kicking off Women’s History Month with a number of performances from some very talented women.
Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage, the female-led New York City-based festival, is hosting shows this month in honor of Women’s History Month. SummerStage is committed to gender and racial equity in its programming and in 2019, SummerStage signed on to the PRS Foundation’s international Keychange pledge, committing to present a 50:50 gender balance in its programming.
“Representation always matters, and we are proud to be a global leader in achieving gender parity in the SummerStage and SummerStage Anywhere programming,” said Executive Artistic Director, Erika Elliott. “Curating the festival to reflect our ethos and commitment to amplify women in the arts is of paramount importance year-round, but even more so during Women’s History Month. We are eager to further elevate female artists while providing a platform for their work.”
The events will kick off on March 4 at 7 p.m. EST with The Rewind: a celebration of Women’s History Month. Vanessa Reed, President and CEO of New Music USA, will introduce the program, followed by performances from our-time Grammy-award winning Beninese-American superstar Angélique Kidjo, indie group Soccer Mommy, Brazilian pop artist Duda Beat, Tunisian singer-songwriter Emel, queen of disco Gloria Gaynor, award-winning Afro-Cuban jazz singer Daymé Arocena, experimental R&B violinist Sudan Archives, Mexican alternative-pop singer Carla Morrison, and Camille A Brown & Dancers company member, Chloe O. Davis.
The programming continues with Rising Tides, The International Women’s Day Celebration on March 8. At 7 p.m. EST, the show will premiere “four/four presents: All That I Am” with new music by electro-pop artist La Force. Other featured performers include dancers Amara Barner (RUBBERBAND), Miranda Chan (Le fils D’Adrien), Axelle Ebony (Asymmetry Creations), Shanyca Eli-Leconte (Asymmetry Creations), Shanna Irwin (Les Ballets Jazz De Montreal), and Gabrielle Simard (CORPUS Collective). The show will also include an encore presentation of “Becoming Mother Duende: An Ode to New York” by New York interdisciplinary performing artist/choreographer Arielle Rosales.
On March 18, Summerstage will stream the VP Records 40th Anniversary Show Reel starting at 7 p.m. EST. The show will start with an introduction from Ms. Pat (Patricia Chin), founder of Queens, New York’s reggae label VP Records, and NPR journalist Catalina Maria Johnson, who will discuss Miss Pat’s anticipated book release, “Miss Pat – My Reggae Music Journey.” The presentation will then show highlights from VP Records’ 40th anniversary concert presented in Central Park in 2019, with clips from Elephant Man, Estelle, Junior Reed and Raging Fyah.
The Women’s History Month lineup will conclude on March 25 with the New York Night Train Soul Clap and Dance-Off Reel. Starting at 7 p.m. EST, the show will take a look back at the 2019 show featuring performances from soul legends, including the Soul Queen of New Orleans, Irma Thomas at the Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island Boardwalk.
All of the performances will be streamed on SummerStageAnywhere.org and all SummerStage social channels on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.
